Fairbanks Energy Services has documented the energy savings attributed to LED lighting and autonomous controls at a Chappaqua, NY data center at 244,000 kWh in one year of operation. Fairbanks worked with IT company vXchnge on the solid-state lighting (SSL) project that delivered the significant energy savings in a 38,000-ft2 while meeting Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) recommended light levels.

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　　For vXchnge, the LED lighting project was part of its continued commitment to being a green company. The company has stated that it is insistent on meeting the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for “green data centers.” In the case of the Chappaqua project, the partners said the occupancy- and daylight-sensing controls extended energy savings 20% relative to an installation with basic efficient SSL.

　　Still, as with all lighting projects, it’s the quality of lighting for the people that work under it that is most important. Fairbanks reported that before the retrofit light levels were 15–20 fc below fixtures and as low as 5–10 fc between fixtures. The retrofit can deliver 30–35 fc between fixtures, although that level depends on occupancy and natural light at any given time.

　　The LED lighting is set to dim to 9–10 fc when a space is vacant for 15 minutes. After 25 minutes, the lights are extinguished. The partners report that based on observations, the lights are on at full output only 10% of the time and even at that level are only 88% of full output. The observations would project that 40% of the time the lights are 50% dimmed and that 50% of the time the lights are off.

　　Autonomous controls have long been claimed to deliver significant energy savings beyond the benefits of LEDs in certain applications. Digital Lumens set the expectation level years ago, promising 90% energy savings in warehouse applications. Most recently, Digital Lumens was acquired by Osram.

　　The data center application is not as ripe for energy savings as perhaps a warehouse, but still the advantages of autonomous controls are substantial. “This comprehensive lighting and controls upgrade has resulted in tremendous validated reductions in energy usage and cost that vXchnge and their customers will enjoy for years to come,” said Ross Fairbanks, COO, Fairbanks Energy Services. “We are always delighted to see the benchmarks in an efficiency project achieved. Since completing the retrofit at the Chappaqua data center 12 months ago, the savings have been impressive and a testament to the impact that modern lighting solutions can have on a company’s bottom line.”